The Devil's Plaything
by avafreak45
Summary: She looked up from her hiding spot, and clamped her hand to her mouth to force down a shrill scream. All she could see of the man staring down at her was a single dark eye, as black as the darkest of night. She saw nothing but darkness in them and her blood ran cold with fear. Whoever this man was had just killed a building full of people...sure, he'd kill her too...


**Salvation for One**

Being fucked from behind is definitely not her favorite position, but being in the line of work she's in, Yan-Mei had no choice but to comply with a paying customer. Her grip on the bed sheets tightened as her client continuously thrust into her. She hated this position: with her ass in the air spread wide for all to see...she felt so vulnerable, and it was far from enjoyable. On the contrary, her client-Councilman Yun-was so mediocre she had to fake moaning in pleasure whenever he asked if she "liked that." A slap on the ass made her cry out loud and her client's thrusts increased in speed. His grip on her thighs tightened and she was worried he'd leave his fingernail marks on her, but after several more thrusts he quickly pulled out and released himself on her back.

_You've got to be kidding,_ she thought, disgusted. She looked back to her client and saw that he was spent, exhausted and quite satisfied with himself and was lying on his pillows for a rest, panting heavily. After a moment, she straightened herself and sat on her knees, while he went to the bathroom and came back with a small towel so she could clean herself up.

"I'm sorry," said the Councilman, getting back into bed and making himself comfortable while Yan-Mei tidied herself up. "You're so beautiful, I didn't want to get you all dirty, but I didn't want a…mishap later on." She didn't answer, and instead busied herself with getting dressed and fixing her hair. It was 3am, she was tired, and she wanted nothing more than to take a hot shower to wash away what had happened, and go into her own bed and collapse onto soft pillows and drift into a dreamless sleep…until the next night. She kept her eyes downcast, not wanting to look at the Councilman, and continued straightening her black cocktail dress. A rustling from the drawers made her look up to see Councilman Yun rummaging through them, to give her her pay. He handed her a wad of money with a smile and a wink.

"I'll be sure to call on you again," he whispered slyly in her ear as she took the money. Her skin crawled; the last thing she wanted was to be called by him again. Maybe she could pretend to be sick next time…but that could end up with backlash from the higher ups. Disguising her revulsion behind a coy smile, she gracefully took the money, placed it in her purse with the other sums of cash, and saw herself out of his hotel room. She felt disgusting. That, by far, was one of the worst nights she's ever spent with a man and she wished more than anything that she could just teleport home and shower off the feeling of him on her. Digging in her purse for some loose cash, she hailed a cab and instructed the driver to take her home. Once there, she called her superiors and told them how much she had made and she will bring them their share tomorrow evening.

"You did well, Yan-Mei," he told her. She could hear the smile play on his lips at the thought of the large sum of money he was about to own tomorrow evening. "Rest up, you'll need it."

An exasperated sigh escaped her lips as she hung up phone and she collapsed on her bed, staring at the floor and looked back at how her life ended up like this. She never wanted to be a prostitute; what girl does? No, she had dreams of going becoming a doctor, or a singer; quite frankly, she enjoyed the latter more so than the former. Growing up in the Chinese countryside, her family had worked their land, planting and growing crops and Yan-Mei would sing to pass the time. The villagers said that it was almost on par with the singing wild birds that flew overhead as they worked. That's part of the reason how she ended up in this position. Like the other girls she met over the years in her life of "business" she had been promised a career in singing, or acting. Instead she was stripped of her rights and human dignity and forced into prostitution. The first years were brutal and many times she tried to kill herself, but after some time she learned that picking your fights and knowing when to back down and comply with those around you, helps you survive. So, with her learnings and earnings, she saved what money she made and fashioned a new goal for herself: she planned on buying her freedom and going for her dream.

Sighing once more, Yan-Mei undid her hair from its bun and headed to her bathroom to shower and soak in the hot waters. She was forced into this world at the age of 18, but now at the age of 24 she was more than numb to these nights and she seemed to move on autopilot, washing her hair and body until finally changing into a silk chemise and tucking herself into her covers. Sleep soon overcame her and she finally closed her eyes and allowed herself to be taken by the darkness.

* * *

Her phone ringing shrilly awakened her from her sleep the next morning. She was tempted to just let it ring and go to voicemail, but in her line of work, she knew better than to let that happen. Groggily, Yan-Mei stumbled out of bed and went to retrieve her cell phone from her bag on the opposite side of the room. She caught it just before it went to voicemail.

_"Wei,"_ she greeted. There was a pause on the other end. _"Wei," _she repeated, her brow furrowing in confusion and annoyance; whomever this was had the audacity to call her early in the morning and didn't even have the nerve to speak to her, she could be getting a couple more minutes of blissful sleep right now.

"Whoever this is, you'd better start talking or I'm hanging up," she ordered, now getting angry. She knew it wasn't her one of her employers, so she wasn't afraid of speaking so casually. Finally a scared and hushed voice cracked through her cell phone and her annoyance and anger instantly dissipated when she heard who was on the other line.

"Yan-Mei…I need to speak with you." The voice of her longtime friend, Yu-Jin cracked on the other end of the line. She sounded frantic, scared, and she was whispering. Yan-Mei had met her one night at a bar after she had come from the home of a client. She knew she worked for the same people, but she never had the opportunity until then to actually get to talk to her, so she took it upon herself to get up from her seat at the bar and go and join Yu-Jin. She was a quiet girl, and very mistrusting of people, Yan-Mei had learned. Like her, she had been promised a lavished life and career but instead she was forced into the world of prostitution. As a result, Yu-Jin had difficulty trusting anyone but through the years, she and Yan-Mei had become good friends and would do anything for each other.

Yan-Mei's heart was beating fast at the sound of her dear friend's voice, but she swallowed her initial fear and worry and answered, surprised to hear her voice sounded steady.

"What's wrong, Yu-Jin? Are you alright?" she asked. Another pause.

"I'm fine, I just…I need to speak with you right away," answered Yu-Jin. "Can you meet with me?"

"Of course. Where?"

"Anywhere," croaked Yu-Jin. "But someplace public, with lots of people; if someone sees us alone together, they'll suspect something."

Yan-Mei didn't hesitate. "I can meet you at the Dim Sum restaurant near the antique shop. It's pretty crowded there, that way we won't have to worry about being caught by ourselves. We'll just say we were meeting each other for lunch."

"That's fine. Can you be there quickly?" asked Yu-Jin. She sounded even more scared and breathless now which didn't help Yan-Mei's own nerves. Whatever was troubling Yu-Jin, it was serious.

"I'll be there in ten minutes," replied Yan-Mei, already ripping off her chemise and running to her closet to put on a pair of jeans and a sweater. It was cold outside, but Yu-Jin needed her, so she thought nothing of putting a white sweater over her red lace bra and nothing else. She'd deal with the cold later, plus she was going to wear a coat. She stayed on the phone with her friend as she dressed and once she had put on a pair of sneakers she shouted over the device, "I'm leaving right now, ok?! Don't worry, I'm coming!"

"Ok, I'm leaving too," replied Yu-Jin and she disconnected as Yan-Mei grabbed her purse, ripped open the door of her apartment and sprinted down the hall.

The restaurant was crowded when Yan-Mei finally arrived, right on time and saw her friend sitting at a table near the center of the room. Yan-Mei wondered how she was able to get that particular table seeing the vast amount of people but she dropped the thought from her mind the instant she saw the look on Yu-Jin's face once she sat down. Yan-Mei grabbed her friend's hands and held them tightly, looking into her eyes.

"What's wrong?" she asked, her eyes filled with worry.

"I ordered us something to eat," replied Yu-Jin, ignoring her. "It should be here in a while."

"Yu-Jin—"started Yan-Mei but her friend cut her off once more.

"Have some tea," she said while she poured her a cup of hot green tea and handed it to her. Yan-Mei ignored it, feeling her temper start to rise. She subdued it while the waiter brought them their food but once out of earshot, she glared at Yu-Jin, and leaned close.

"If you don't tell me what's happening—"

"I'm leaving," Yu-Jin said, finally staring Yan-Mei in the face. Through the silence that passed between the two friends, Yan-Mei saw that the other woman's voice was final and determined, and her eyes held a fiery resolve. And yet as she continued to stare, she also could see sadness and fear behind them.

"W-what?" questioned Yan-Mei, her heart beating faster every minute. She stared wide eyed, as her friend started to open the cylindrical box holding the soft steamed dumplings, and began to add them to each of their plates without saying a word. Several more moments of silence passed, while Yan-Mei took her glass of water and downed half of it, discovering that her throat had gone dry in the wake of her friend's declaration.

Placing her glass down, she took a deep breath and looked Yu-Jin in the eyes again.

"What did you say?" she repeated. Yu-Jin stared her down with the same expression she had on her face not too long ago; the same sad determination that reflected in her eyes.

"I'm leaving this place," she whispered. "I've saved enough money to get out, move someplace else and start a new life. I can't do this anymore; I'm sick ok living like this." Her eyes sparkled with tears. She poured herself a cup of tea, while Yan-Mei took a moment to process what she had said. The porcelain clattered slightly against each other while she poured two cups of the beverage and handed one to Yan-Mei.

"Where will you go?" Yan-Mei finally asked, in a voice that was barely audible. Yu-Jin placed her hands on her lap, staring at her forgotten dumplings.

"I don't know…" she said, "Japan perhaps? Korea maybe? Ideally, I'd want to try going to Canada, or maybe the US. I just want to be someplace that's not…_here._" She looked at her friend, who had been there for her through every shitty job she had come back from, who stayed by her side over the years they've been in this industry together. Yu-Jin felt tears well up in her eyes once again at the thought of leaving her, abandoning her after everything they had been through. She took Yan-Mei's hand and held it tightly, as if her life depended on it.

"Come with me," she said. Yan-Mei blinked in surprise at her friend's declaration and she felt her heart swell with emotion. She'd jump at the chance to escape with her, to leave this place of sadness and despair, corruption and pain. It's what she wanted for so many years. But as quickly as the feeling of hope came, it dissipated just as fast. She released her hand from Yu-Jin's grasp and held it out of her reach and looked sadly at the other woman and shook her head.

"I can't," she said, solemnly. Yu-Jin opened her mouth to argue, but she cut her off swiftly by saying, "If the both of us don't show up, it'll look way too suspicious. According to them, we're two of The Best…if they lose both of us, it'll be bad for their business; they'll hunt us down." It killed her to say such things, but she knew she was right. Yu-Jin's tears escaped from her watery eyes and spilled onto her smooth face.

"We're not dogs," countered Yu-Jin fiercely.

"We might as well be!"

Yan-Mei felt her own tears fall and quickly wiped them away. She took a steadying breath and looked at Yu-Jin, holding out her hand. Her friend looked at her outstretched hand, and, slowly reached for it, taking hers in her own.

"You know I would go with you if I could," whispered Yan-Mei, staring into Yu-Jin's eyes. She nodded somberly, wiping her own tears from her face. Yan-Mei tried to smile and make light of the situation.

"No matter where you go, I'll always be with you," she said, squeezing Yu-Jin's hand reassuringly. "Think of me and you'll be alright."

"I will," choked Yu-Jin through more tears. She gave Yan-Mei a watery smile, and then wiped away the rest of her tears. Heaving a sigh, she let go of her friend's hand, and picked up her chopsticks. "I'm paying for this, so we might as well eat before it gets cold."

"If it hasn't gone cold already," replied Yan-Mei with a smile of her own. Together they both ate their food, feeling much better about the situation in front of them after they had food in their stomachs. They drank and ate and laughed almost as if they were normal girls and not women of the night, and not as if one was about to go on a dangerous escape. They were first and foremost friends, and that's how they were intending to stay, no matter what happened.

Once they had finished their meal and Yu-Jin paid the bill, the two women walked out of the restaurant, their arms looped through one another's. The air was thick with finality and sadness, as they knew this was the last time they would see each other.

"Thank you for the meal," Yu-Jin said as they walked a bit from the Dim Sum restaurant so other customers could walk in. Yan-Mei snorted.

"Why are you thanking me? You paid," she laughed. The other young woman shrugged and butted her shoulder. "I'm trying to lighten the mood," she said. Yan-Mei smile, and tucked a flyaway hair behind her ear. She suddenly dislodged her arm from Yu-Jin's and dug into her purse, finally pulling out a wad of cash. Yu-Jin stared at it.

"This isn't—"she started, looking at Yan-Mei with shock.

"No, it's not the money for Jie. It's just a little extra money," replied Yan-Mei nonchalantly. She pressed it into Yu-Jin's hand and held it there. "Be careful," she said, trying to smile.

"I will," answered Yu-Jin confidently, while pocketing the money. "Here," she handed Yan-Mei a small piece of paper. Her friend took it and opened it slowly, careful not to tear it apart. There was a phone number written on it.

"This is your number?" asked Yan-Mei. Yu-Jin nodded and said, "If anything happens, or if you change your mind, I want you to call me and I'll come. No matter what ok?" Yan-Mei nodded and smiled widely while putting the phone number in her jeans pocket. The two friends then shared a long hug before finally departing ways, both trying not to cry. With a heavy heart, Yan-Mei went drifted off in the opposite direction of Yu-Jin, trying to banish the thought of never seeing her again from her mind.

* * *

Nightfall came too soon for Yan-Mei. After her outing with Yu-Jin she took it upon herself to go window shopping and the next thing she knew, she was already back at her apartment getting ready for whatever client called on her that night. A knock on her door made her pause in applying blush and she quickly went to answer. A man stood in the doorway, wearing a deep red leather jacket covering a white collared shirt, dark wash jeans, and expensive looking black leather shoes. His hair was jet black, yet styled in a way that appeared he hadn't taken much time to comb through it. His dark almond eyes crinkled as a smile graced his handsome features and he let himself in, pushing Yan-Mei aside. She moved willingly in silence; she knew who this man was, she wasn't about to argue with him on entering her home uninvited.

"Hello Jie," she greeted him, with a slight bow and started to close the door behind him. He held out a hand to stop her.

"No need, I'm not staying long," he said with a smirk. "I just wanted to know of you have the money." The smile stayed on his smug face in an attempt to make the situation light, and he continued to stare at her with his beady eyes. Yan-Mei controlled the urged to shiver in disgust as she nodded and went to her purse to grab his earnings from the previous night. She handed him the wad of cash, which is unrolled and counted.

"Wow. The Chairman must've liked you a _lot…_he gave you so much," Jie exclaimed in mild amusement. He looked at her, the grin on his face more prominent. "You really are the best girl we've got." He nicked her chin with his index finger and she had to suppress the instinct to swat it away. She kept her eyes cast downwards, both out of some form of respect for the man, but also to keep herself from glaring daggers at him. Finally, once he was finished counting, he took several bills from the large amount of cash and handed them to her.

"You've earned it," he said. Yan-Mei graciously took it in silence and walked him to the door. Out in the hall, he turned to her once last time, pocketing the rest of his cash.

"Hurry and finish getting ready and meet me at the shop once you're finished," he instructed, all formality gone from his voice. The "shop" was nothing more than what looked like an ordinary massage parlor…but behind closed doors it was an entirely different story. Sometimes a client would go in and they'd get their business done there, but other times, like last night, the client would ask for a "masseuse" to come to them.

"Clients will be coming in, and I want my best girl to be ready," Jie smirked once more and turned to go but not before stopping once more and asking, "Oh. Have you seen Yu-Jin? We're trying to get a hold of her and she hasn't been answering her phone…I know you two are close," his eyes narrowed and he dropped his voice dangerously and said slowly, "if you know where she is, I suggest you tell me now."

Yan-Mei forced herself to keep calm, but her heart was racing with fear. No, she couldn't give anything away; she'd be damned if she were to give any information about her dear friend to this slimy excuse of a man. She steeled herself and looked him directly in the eye.

"No," she answered, ignoring the pounding in her chest. "I haven't seen her in a long time; I don't know where she is."

Jie was silent for a long time, scrutinizing her under his squalid gaze. He walked up to her and stopped mere inches from where she was standing. She could smell his breath, already laced with booze on her skin. She kept from squirming as he traced a finger from her chin to her neck, where she was sure he could feel her heartbeat quickening.

"If I find out you're lying…" he whispered threateningly, his grasp suddenly tightened around her throat and she gasped in terror and took a tiny step back to keep from falling over. "…You'll have me to answer to," Jie finished off his threat with a slight squeeze of her windpipe and abruptly let go. He left her standing in the doorway to her apartment, frozen with fear and rubbing her neck. Closing the door, Yan-Mei immediately went to the mirror to check the damage; if there was any imperfection on her body, she might not be paid as much, and that could also spell consequences.

_It's not that bad, _she thought, gently prodding her neck. There was a very pale red handprint around her throat, but that would go away within a few minutes. _It could have been a lot worse. _

Begrudgingly, she sighed and finished the rest of her makeup, donning herself with some jewelry to complete her look. Walking to her closet, she grabbed a decent sized purse, careful folded some lingerie and placed them inside; there was a place for her to change when she got there. Finally, on her feet she donned a pair of white bejeweled stilettos, and straightening her royal blue halter dress, she took her white leather jacket from its place on the coat hanger and walked out the door.

Another night, another customer…all part of the job.


End file.
